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Buffaloes: Health and Disease !

Prepared by

Dr. Ali H. SadiekProf. of Internal Veterinary Medicine

and Clinical Laboratory Diagnosis

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut UniversityE-mail: Sadiek59@yahoo.com

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What is a Buffalo? • Buffalo are members of the bovine group of animals. • They are cloven footed ruminants with 4 teats.There are two main species of buffalo. 1- The African wild Buffalo (Syncerus) 2- Asian Buffalo (Bubalus) which for the most are domesticated

(Bubalus bubalis).• Water (domestic) buffaloes is ~ 150x 106 in 50 countries

worldwide:1/9th the Nr. of cattle in the world. It is an economically important livestock species in many Asian and Mediterranean countries.

3- American buffalo (Bison)

African Buffalo Water buffaloes Bison

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World Distribution of Water Buffaloes

Mediternian countries China and south asian

East Africa

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Asian Water Buffalo: • 97 % of the world's water buffaloes are located in Asia.

There are two types1- Swamp buffalo: المستنقعات جاموس• Indigenous to those parts of Asia which do not have a great

culture from consuming milk & milk byproducts (Indonesia northwards to China)

• It is a dual purpose animal (meat and draught)2- River buffalo: النهري الجاموس• It is a triple purpose animal (milk, meat and draught power), • Found in those countries where milk plays a more important

part in the human diet e.g India , Pakistan , middle east , Caucasus and Balkans.

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Asian Water Buffaloes• In addition to its for meat and/or milk, Buffaloes are still

used in Asian countries as Drought animals (transport, land Cultiv. and carriage)

• An old chineese women say:"To my family, the buffalo is more important than I am. When I die, they'll weep for me; but if our buffalo dies, they may starve.

• South Asian countries where the rice cultivation depends mainly on buffalo- workload.

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Water Buffalo • Kingdom: Animalia• Phylum: Chordata• Class: Mammalia• Order: Artiodactyla• Family: Bovidae• Subfamily:Bovinae• Tribe: Bovini• Genus: Bubalus• Species: B. bubalis

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The Egyptian women observe and take care of their buffaloes.

Buffaloes back home from pastures

Egyptian water BuffaloesBubalis bubalis

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Egyptian Water Buffaloes

• Villagers in medieval Egypt adopted the water buffalo, and become the most important domestic animal in modern Egypt.

• Buffalo population increased gradually and has reached over 2 million head.

• Buffaloes now supply Egyptian with more meat, milk, cooking oil, and cheese.

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Egyptian Water Buffalo

• Dimensions: - height at withers: 125-150 cm- Weight: 350-600 kg- Color: dark grey- Horns: extend backwards (sickle shape)

• Principle usage:    - milk, meat, fertilizer    - no longer used for plowing, pulling, riding, etc...

• Temperament:    - Can be vicious when handling (temperament can depend a lot on environment and  level of confinement)

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Egyptian Water Buffalo

• Milk production:- 4-10 kg of milk twice daily, depends of the amount of concentrate fed- Has at least a 7% milk fat- Milk is whiter in color than cow's milk- Days in lactation per year: 210-280- Average number of lactations: 7

• Calving:    - age at first calving: 34-41 months

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Egyptian Water Buffalo• Housing:

    - In isolated pens beside the house    - In pens connected to the house    - In fields (usually tied to the ground)

• Watering:    - Through pipes for those kept in houses.    - From irrigation canals for those in a field

• Feeding:    - Usually fed baseem during the day and concentrate (corn, bran, cotton seed, etc...) at night   

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Behavior and physiology of water buffalo

• In general the husbandry of buffalo is more or less similar to that of cattle.

• Buffalo are generally docile and easy to handle & unless wounded or severely stressed.

• Breeding throughout the year and having a calf every year.

• They carry their calf for 10 months; twin calves and dystokia are very rare.

• Adult females may reach 350kg, in Himalayans, to 800kg in Bulgaria and Italy

• Longevity : up to 20 years old

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Behavior and physiology of water buffalo

• Buffalo love to wallow in water but it is not necessary.• De-horning is not recommended as the horns provide

a mechanism for body heat loss.• Well constructed house is preferable, can be loose

yard or cubicles.• Buffalo exceed cattle in their ability to convert poor

quality forage to meat or milk. • Buffalo consume 2.5% of its body weight as a daily dry

matter intake. • Stocking rates for buffalo: 10-20% higher than for cattle. • Buffalo prefer to graze a shorter sward to cattle, nearer to

that for sheep.

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Comparison with CattleCattle and water buffaloes are obviously different animals.

Genetics• Swamp buffalo has 48 chromosomes, • The River buffalo, 50. chromosomes• The chromosomal material is, however, similar in the two types

and they crossbreed to produce fertile hybrid progeny.

• Cattle have 60 chromosomes, hybrids from the union are unlikely to occur

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Comparison of Buffalo & Cows Milks

Buffalo Cows

Butterfat % 8.0% 3.9%

Protein % 4.5% 3.3%

Cholesterol 8mg 14mg

Colour Pure white Creamy

Texture Smooth Less smooth

Taste Sweet Salty

Cell Counts Very low Higher

Yield/ Lact'n Kg

1850 5500

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 Meat Production

• Buffalo meat, like the milk is lower in cholesterol and higher in mineral content than that of cows.

• Lean buffalo meat has less than half (44%) the total fat content of lean beef and has less saturated fat.

• When cooked there is little noticeable difference in the two meats, either visually or in taste or texture.

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Vital Clinical And Laboratory values

Animal Cattle Buffaloe Normal Temperature °C 38.5 38.2

Pulse rate/min 50-80 40-60 Respiratory rate/m 10-20 8-20

RBCs (T/l) 5-10 6-8 Hb (G/dl) 8-14 11.5-15.5

WBCs (G/l) 4-12 7-9 PCV (%) 26-42 32-52

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

• Buffaloes are very hardy and tolerant of weather conditions as well as extremely disease resistant.

• In comparison with other domestic livestock, the water buffalo generally is a healthy animal.

• This is particularly impressive because most of them live in hot, humid regions that are conducive to disease,

• Buffalo is a bovine susceptible to most diseases and parasites that affect cattle.

• Although the reasons are not specifically known, the effect of disease on the buffalo and its productivity is often less deleterious than on cattle.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle• The greatest buffalo losses are often among

calves. • Newborn buffalo calves, like cattle calves, can

die in large numbers due to viruses, bacteria, and poor nutrition.

• Calves especially rarely suffer from pneumonia or non-nutritional scours.

• Poor management during the calf's first 2 months of life may attribute to these losses., e.g. depriving calves from their valuable mother milk to sell it.

• Proclivity of buffalo calves for wallowing exposes them to waterborne diseases.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

I- Non infectious disease1-Exposure to heat and direct sunlight• Buffaloes suffer if forced to remain,

even for a few hours, in direct sunlight. • They have only one-tenth the density

of sweat glands of cattle and their coating of hair is sparse, providing little protection from the sun.

• Accordingly, buffaloes must not be driven over long distances in the heat of the day.

• They must be allowed time for watering and, if possible, for wallowing.

• Driving under a hot sun for long hours will cause heat exhaustion and possibly death; losses can be very high and can occur suddenly.

• Young calves are particularly affected by heat.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

2- Exposure to extreme cold• Buffaloes are also sensitive to extreme

cold and seem less able than cattle to adapt to truly cold climates,

• Buffaloes don't do well where the sun is inadequate to ripen,

• Sudden drops in temperature and chill winds may lead to pneumonia and death.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

3- Lameness and clinical mastitis is also rare in adults.

4- Lymphangitis and Limb Abscesses were frequently noted on Egyptian Buffalo.

5- There has been no incidence of BSE in any buffalo anywhere in the world.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

•6 -Traumatic reticuloperitonitis and its allied syndrome

•Traumatic pericarditis

•Dewelap & Brisket edema

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

7- Phytobezoar obstructing

• The reticuloomasal orifice causing ruminitis, regurgitation, aspiration pneumonia and death in a she-buffalo

8-Frothy Tempany

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

9- Metabolic diseases -Hypophosphatemia

• It occurs mainly at late pregnancy, It is related closely to feeding with Barseen (Sweet Clover).

• In Cattle it occurs primarily at peak of lactation and related directly to heavy milk production

• Milk fever occurred in mild form and respond to ca therapy as well

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10-Tail Tip Necrosis in buffaloes: Zinc deficiency/or microfilaria

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Diseases susceptibility vs CattleIII- Infectious Diseases• Tropical countries have more serious disease

problems than temperate countries do. • Despite their general good health, buffaloes are

probably as susceptible as cattle to most infections.

• Buffalo seems to be sensitive to a few cattle diseases and resistant to a few others.

• Reactions to some diseases seem to vary with region, environment, and breed, and the differences are not well understood.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

1-Pasteurellosis, or HS • It is the most serious disease of water buffaloes, it is

caused by Pasteurella multocida. • Buffaloes are more susceptible

to it than cattle and die in large numbers where pasteurellosis occurs.

• A vaccine against pasteurellosis is effective in protecting both buffaloes and cattle; it is cheap and easily made.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

2-Tuberculosis- • It was thought that buffaloes were

resistant to the disease. Despite some claims to the contrary, the water buffalo is susceptible to the bovine strain of T.B.

• Scattered reports from different parts of India indicate no difference in the incidence of infection between cattle and buffaloes .

• T.B occurs among the buffalo herds of the world only because most are kept under unsanitary conditions.

• Most were housed in muddy, ill-kept pens and forced to eat sugarcane tops off the ground;

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle3- Brucellosis• Brucellosis is a frequent cause of abortion in buffaloes.• Buffaloes and cattle are equally susceptible to

brucellosis. • Serologic procedures and measures developed for the

control of the disease in cattle are also effective means of curbing this infection in buffaloes.

• Brucellosis in Venezuela is increasing more rapidly among buffaloes than among cattle.

• In India the disease is no more prevalent among buffaloes than among cattle.

• Consumption of raw milk or contact with aborted fetuses may cause undulant fever in humans.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle4-Mastitis• Among milking buffaloes

mastitis is a problem as it is in dairy cows, but to a lesser extent.

• It is likely to increase, however, as the milk production per individual buffalo is increased.

• The bacteria that cause mastitis in the buffalo are similar to those in cattle.

• Treatment and control programs used for cattle are equally effective for buffaloes.

Severe swelling of the hind quarter.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle• 5-Rinderpest and piroplasmosis

seem to affect buffaloes as much as cattle.

• 6-FMD also affects buffaloes, but to a lesser degree than cattle, producing smaller lesions and having a lower incidence.

• 7-Bovine pleuropneumonia: Natural infection was not reported in buffaloes , however experimental infection exhibited slight fever, but the disease never appeared.

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Diseases susceptibility vs CattleSuscepatibilty vs cattle

Disease

Equal or greater Pasterullosis 1 Equal T.B 2 greater Black leg 3 Equal Anthrax 4 Probly equal Salmonellosis 5 Equal or greater in iran Rinderpest 6 Probly equal FMD 7 Probly equal BVD 8 Equal but less common Rabies 9 Not known Blue tongue 10 Pecuular to buffalo Buffalo Pox 11 Not known Ephemeral f. 12 Not known M.C.F 13

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Suscepatibilty vs cattle

Disease

Less susceptible Anaplasmosis 1 Equal Theileriosis 2 Less suscept. Babesiosis 3 Equal Trypanosoma 4 Probly equal Coocidia 5 Equal or greater in iran Sarcosporidia 6 Probly equal Echinococcus 7 Probly equal Schistosoma 8 Equal but less common Fascioliasis 9 Not known Bovine

encephaloml. 10

Equal Trypanosoma 11 Probly equal Coocidia 12

Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle

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IV- Other Diseases• Ticks -Buffaloes are notably resistant, although not

immune, to ticks. • The basis of the buffalo's tick resistance is not known,

but wallowing and rubbing may play a role in it; animals kept in experimental concrete pens have developed heavy tick infestation.

• Accordingly, healthy buffaloes are not commonly affected by diseases borne by ticks nor are the hides damaged by their bites.

• Since ticks are rarely found on buffaloes, anaplasmosis, theileriasis, and babesiosis, which are tick-borne, have little effect on buffaloes in the field.

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle Wallowing of water buffaloes &

their mud-coated skin seems to repel insect and tick ectoparasites and they consequently require

greatly reduced treatment with insecticides

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Diseases susceptibility vs Cattle• Although the buffalo fly (Siphona exigua) affects

the animals, other pests such as the warble fly and the screwworm, for example, seldom affect healthy buffaloes.

• Despite their inclination for living in swamps, Avers, and ponds, diseases of the feet such as foot rot and foot abscesses are rare.

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V-Insects and Helminthes

• Screwworm- Larvae of the screwworm fly (Callitroge species), a major pest of livestock in Central and South America and some other tropical areas, do not affect adult water buffalo.

• In Venezuelan areas where cattle (Zebu type) are severely infested, adult water buffaloes are virtually free of screwworm larvae and the umbilicus of newborn calves seldom if ever becomes infected.

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Roundworm

• The roundworm is the most serious buffalo parasite and if untreated it may cause intestinal obstruction.

• Toxocara vitulorum: It cause a heavy losses of young buffalo calves throughout the world

• Buffalo- calves seem more susceptible than mature animals and they become infected before birth or within 24 hours after birth through the mother's colostrum.

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Roundworm• The adult water buffalo appears to have a

high degree of resistance to strongyloid nematodes.

• Being such excellent converters of rough fodders they do not suffer the nutritional deficiency and the resulting liability to these roundworms experienced seasonally by cattle.

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Liver Fluke

• Liver Fluke- During wallowing, water buffaloes can easily become infected with the waterborne infective stages of liver fluke (Fasciola gigantica).

• No clinical signs of the disease are usually evident unless become heavy

• It seems likely that the resulting liver damage reduces the growth and the work and milk production of buffaloes more than is generally appreciated.

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Trypanosomiasis• Trypanosomiasis- • Water buffalo is susceptible to

trypanosomiasis and is reportedly more susceptible than cattle to T. evansi.

• Experience with the animal in Africa is limited, but trypanosomiasis may be the reason why Egypt is the only African country that has traditionally employed water buffalo.

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Other Parasites

• Pediculosis, caused by the sucking louse (Hematopinus tuberculatus), occurs widely among buffalo

• The lung worm Dictyocaulus ririparus thrives in warm, humid areas and sometimes infects buffaloes heavily, although its outward manifestations are rare.

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Sarcoptic mange

• Sarcoptes scabiei is a serious disease, especially among calves and during dry seasons when wallowing opportunities are restricted.

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Examin. of Mouth “IBR”

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Vet. Convoys on Assiut Villages:

Taking History

Student and Staff Activity

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Vet. Convoys on Assiut Villages:

• Fluid therapy in diarrheic dehydrated calves

• Drawing of buffaloes to the Mobile Vet. Clinics

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Clinical Exam. and Treatment

• Antibiotics and vaccines developed for cattle work equally well on buffaloes.

• Treatments are available for most of the serious diseases of buffaloes, although some are not very effective for either animal

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Genetic Improvement

• Select superior buffalo bulls and cows for breeding.

• Performance testing, leading to the mass selection of superior animals, deserves high priority.

• A massive selection program is needed to bring about genetic progress.

• For each breed, bulls and cows with the potential for improving production of meat and milk and increasing draft power should be identified and used for breed improvement..

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Genetic Improvement• Crossbreeding of Swamp and

River buffaloes is a potentially important route to genetic improvement.

• Infusing genes for high milk production into the Swamp buffalo, now used mainly for meat and work, creates the potential for a triple-purpose animal.

• The use of artificial insemination and deep-frozen semen should be a major help in upgrading the buffalo.

• Transfer of live embryos for implantation in the uterus of surrogate mothers could be important for water buffalo.

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